Nightmares Within Dreams
by MeerkatJo
Summary: Set around the battle of Somme, a strange occurance brings together Matthew, Sybil and Anna and takes them into the world of the subconscious. Contains some Sybil/Branson, Matthew/Mary and Anna/Bates. Important chapter 6 now up!
1. 12:03am

**Hit writers block with my other sotry so i thought i'd write some Downton/Inception. Know there's a lot of love for these two! Inception characters will appear next chapter, just got to set the scene you know! So enjoy!**

**Jo x**

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14th October 1916, 11:52pm

Matthew stumbled onto his bed in Crawley House and flung his walking stick across the room in anger. What use was a simple piece of wood in trying to help him walk again? Ever since that major offensive in Somme he'd been stumbling. Stumbling, limping, falling. Life seemed like a constant battle for him as memories of war and death tormented his days and haunted his nights. He remembered that valet at the main house who'd sustained a limp from battle. _What was his name again?_ _Bates! That's the one._ His thoughts slowly turned to his friends who he left behind up at the front, Sgt "Herb" Collins, Cpt "Chuck" Wilkinson. All the good times he'd spent laughing, sharing letters and playing poker with those men; it almost put a smile back on his face for the first time since July. _Tom,_ he thought. _Tom Branson_. His vague smile began to sink again. He didn't see what had happened to him but he could tell by the nurse's expressions on the front that it wasn't good news. He began taking of his jacket and tie before lying back on the pillows and resting his eyes. Slowly he drifted in and out of consciousness before falling asleep at exactly 12:03am.

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Sybil couldn't take it a moment longer. She'd been holding back the tears as long as possible since she heard the news at the dinner table that evening. Ever since Carson gave papa a telegram at the dinner table; announced the death of Cpl Tom Branson. The moment she heard the words uttered from her father's mouth she could feel her heart implode. It wasn't until she excused herself from the main party because of a headache did she get the chance to escape to her room. All the noises in the room seemed to echo around her and she needed some space. She ran inter her room and collapsed on the bed before pulling out some of his letters from her bedside draws.

_Dearest Friend, _She read. _Corresponding with you has been a life saver up here at the front. I can't tell you how excited I get when I see your latest letter being handed to me! Reading your words somehow reminds me of the good times we spent back at Downton. Our conversations, our journeys, your passion for equality, your face, your smile, your gleaming grey/bluey eyes with that hint of brown in! It makes my heart race wildly. The reason is you see, that time I held your hand at the garden party on that awful day, well, I know it's out of place for me to say this but, I think I'm in love with you. You can write back telling me to knock some sense into me, but I had to let you know how I feel. You're the most amazing creature I've ever met._

_Until next time,_

_Love Tom._

She let out the most heart-wrenching cry as the tears began to flow, smudging his words of love. He would never know how she truly felt, that she felt exactly the same way. _Too late_. She thought to herself. _Much too late._ She lied down on the pillow as she slowly tired from the crying and she drifted off at exactly 12:03am.

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Anna could sense the shock in the atmosphere below stairs. Their good friend who would dine with them every day was gone. She got into bed, tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable. But as she closed her eyes, all she could see was John's staring right back at her. It filled her heart and the love she felt started overflowing as a smile. For a few blissful moments everything seemed to be perfect. She had her man, she had her job and (thankfully) her life was on a whole unattached to the death 300 miles away in the trenches. But one word brought those moments crumbling down. One name. Vera. She couldn't decode John at all. What had he done wrong (if anything)? What has she done? Why won't he tell her the truth? All these questions were being tossed about in her mind that she quickly grew weary; falling asleep at exactly 12:03am.

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**So what do you think? Please review!**


	2. The Wake Up Call

**I'm glad that people are reading this despite it's almost hidden location! Inception characters come into play in this chapter and the mystery begins! Please review (even if you think it's rubbish, tell me why and how i can improve!)**

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"Matthew?" Sybil called out, kneeling by his side as his eyes began to flutter open.

"Sybil? What-where are we?" He replied, her usual sparkling eyes glazed over with an expression of worry.

"Milady?" Anna sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and turning round to look at them both.

"I don't know where we are, some beautifully old city. Paris probably." Sybil had seen the picturesque photos of France in many books she'd acquired from the library and into the safe haven of her room. Anna looked around as she began to come to her feet. She'd always wanted to visit Paris, ever since she was a little girl and her parents would talk about how they met in Paris, how they fell in love in Paris, how he proposed to her in Paris. It became this Utopian city in her extravagant imagination. Yet the reality of her humble life hit home and she began work at Downton. How would a lowly housemaid ever afford to go to Paris?

"The last thing I remembered was lying in bed, w-how-how can we be here?" Matthew stated.

"And I don't mean to insult you milady, but this looks nothing like Paris! I mean, the buildings look the same, but the cars-I think they're cars-they look alien. And the people!" They all began walking up the pavement on one side of the street, heading towards what looked like the central boulevard. Cafés and shops of all different varieties littered the paths.

"I don't understand myself. How can this be possible?" Sybil questioned, she meant it to be rhetorical, however Matthew decided to answer,

"Well it can't, we must be dreaming." At that moment, all the people in the street going about their daily business glared at them. They glared at them with anger in their eyes. In response to this, they the three of them paused for a moment, before they carried on walking.

"Why did they just do that?" Sybil's fear of the situation was now becoming clear by her shaking voice. "And Matthew, how can we be dreaming? We are all experiencing this together aren't we?"

"Well, how do I know you're not my imagination?"

"Because I'm not!"

"Well how do I know you're not my imagination telling me that?" All the time the two cousins argued, the Parisians resumed their staring. They began muttering between themselves and whispering to each other.

"Wait a moment you two," Anna jogged up ahead of them. "If this is a dream, let me test it!" She glanced momentarily at the path before it irrupted with water. A fountain of aqua leapt into the air before it rained back down on them. They all stood amazed at what had just happened. Sybil seemed a bit preoccupied by her ruined dress, but she still managed to ask,

"Anna, was that you?"

"I think so!" They all carried on walking towards the boulevard.

"Well, that confirms it then, we're dreaming." Matthew stated again. The people glared at them again. Taunting them louder than ever before. A voice rang out saying, _Coup d'oeil! Ces idiots pense que c'est un rêve! _Another shouted, _Tuez-les! Ils ont réalisé la vérité ! _The people started to walk towards them, chanting, _Tuer! Tuer! Tuer! _

"Milady they want to kill us!" The Parisians started running towards them and in response, the three of them started to pick up the pace. They couldn't escape, they were crowded in, encircled by them.

"Wonderful! I'm going to be killed by a mob of angry French!" Sybil tried joking but her voice was now wavering faster than ever before in her life. They were pushed together in the centre of the circle, when suddenly a tall, dark haired woman; a woman in her mid-40s, with eyes like a furnace burst out from the crowd. She wore a tattered dress, one that was completely out of place in this futuristic dream, but one that seemed completely normal for 1916. She held a dagger in one hand and some sort of mucky ring in the other; Anna couldn't tell very well. She looked up from the woman's hands as the woman stared at her with her eyes of fire. Anna could see the anger burning within her before she took the dagger and forced it straight into her side.

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The pain was muted somewhat. She'd considered many times what it must feel like be killed, but she never imagined it to be so…so…calm. A sense of calm washed over her as she awoke on the floor in a small warehouse. She woke up in a cold sweat as she sat up and wondered where she was. She was getting tired of this! As her head moved around the room she saw Matthew waking, Sybil waking…but as her head carried on in its anti-clockwise motion, she saw another three people sat on chairs staring intently at her and her friends.

"You'd better have a reasonable excuse as to what me and my friends are doing here!" She squawked at them. A golden haired man with a cute little baby face came up to her.

"It's alright, it's alright. We're not going to hurt you." He offered her a hand and she took it as she stood up.

"Well, how do I know that?" She questioned him again. She could only assume that judging by his accent, he was American.

"If we were going to hurt you, I wouldn't have offered you my hand and helped you up now would I?" _True_ she thought to herself, but despite this wit, she still didn't feel entirely secure. She was going to ask more questions but she was beaten to it by Sybil, who was being helped up by a young woman with dark hair who looked a similar age to the young Lady.

"I'm sorry but who are you? And what was happening to us?" She asked.

"I'm Ariadne, Dom Cobb and this is Arthur." The young woman replied as she pointed to baby face and the other man helping Matthew up. "We're extractors, we steal secrets from people when they're in the subconscious state, and you were just in a dream." She returned to her seat after pulling out some tiny needles and leads from the other three and carefully placing them back in a large metallic briefcase.

"And you still are." Dom continued. "This is all a dream."

"No, no. I'm fed up to the back teeth of being in a dream. Can't I wake up now?" Matthew chuckled.

"And how is that even possible? I'm mean, how can you be in a dream within a dream?" Anna went and sat down beside Ariadne.

"We don't exactly know that. That's one of the things about being in a dream; you don't know what's just happened." Dom replied whilst the others stood there looking a bit bewildered.

"Let me explain that a bit clearer, "Arthur began, "When you dream, you always seem to start in the middle of the dream yes? You can never remember the beginning."

"That's what happened here. We know we're dreaming, we can't remember the beginning. Someone else is in control of this dream." Ariadne stated.

"I'm sorry?" Sybil went and took a seat.

"There's always someone in control of the dream; a host if you will. They design and create and live in the dream, sometimes without even knowing they're in control. That's what you were doing Anna."

"Hold on, how do you know my name and what do you mean in control? I didn't plan to get stabbed in the stomach by some raving lunatic!" She was slowly losing her patience with them.

"Calm down. We know your name because whoever's in control of this thing told us it. You're head housemaid Anna at Downton Abbey in England in 1916. You're sweet and kind and you're in love with the valet John Bates." Dom shifted his vision to Matthew. "You're Matthew Crawley. You're the unwilling heir to the estate after the sinking of the Titanic. You're a lawyer and you're doing a bit of a Ross/Rachel thing with your cousin Mary."

"I'm sorry; a Ross/Rachel thing?" Matthew complained.

"Its Friends…you know, Ross and Rachel? Sorry. 1916, you won't get it." Arthur butted in.

"Maybe Mr Darcy and Lizzie Bennett might be a better analogy to understand?" Ariadne desperately hoping they had read Pride & Prejudice.

"Slap slap kiss basically!" Arthur joked as he turned to face Ariadne.

"Alright! I understand. Carry on Mr Cobb."

"You're Lady Sybil Crawley. You're the youngest sister at Downton. You're pretty, political and you're heartbroken over the death of your beloved Irish chauffeur." Sybil could feel herself turning bright red. "I know all of this because whoever is controlling this dream has told us this. Now what were you saying Anna? About being stabbed?"

"Well, I thought I was in control of the dream, when the locals just started crowding round us and this horrible woman came out of nowhere, gazed at me for a while and then stabbed us and we woke up here!"

"When you die in a dream, you wake up in reality, or our reality. This dream we're in now." Arthur explained.

"So what would happen if we were killed now?" Sybil questioned as she got up and began walking around the room.

"We don't know. In theory we'd wake up in reality, but we don't know." Ariadne began to follow Sybil.

"We could end up in Limbo." Dom paused. He could see Matthew about to ask what limbo was, but he spoke again, "Limbo is a level of a dream when you can't tell what's real and what's not. You lose your sense of reality. You only go into Limbo if you die in a dream when you're dreaming with a sedative. Anna, tell me about this woman, why do you think she killed you?"

"I don't know! I don't recognise her or anything!"

"Ok, I think we go back into the dream. A different dream and see what that was all about. Matthew, I'm putting you in control."

"Excuse me? I don't know how!"

"It's simple!" Dom exclaimed. "Just create a realistic situation. A realistic place, realistic people and let us explore. Don't ever create anything that's unbelievable, then it'll be clear it's a dream and everyone will gang up on you like before. Ariadne! Sybil!" He called out," Come sit back down!"

They retuned and all sat on the chairs in the middle of the room as Dom inserted needles into their arms and linked them up with the briefcase.

"You ready?" he looked around to see everyone nodding their heads. He pressed the central button on the briefcase; their arms falling down to theirs sides as they entered the dream.


	3. If This Is All The Time We Have

**Sorry about the long wait, been busy with exams and the sort. This chapter we get a better idea of who the mysterious woman is, so if you haven't guessed by the cliff hanger ending, i'll try not to make you wait too long!**

**Jo x**

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BOOM!

A deafening explosion knocked them into the dream as they awoke surrounded by dirt and earth. Mud all around them as the piercing sound of shells echoed all around them. They all jumped to their feet as they looked all around them, wondering where they were. All except Matthew, who started weaving his way through mazes of trenches. He knew where he was going and he knew what he was doing. He was in complete control of the dream and he designed it so his leg was in perfect condition again. He was dressed in his uniform; prepared to fight. He stopped in front of his commander, Major Watson and gave him a short salute before exclaiming,

"Reporting for duty sir!" By the time his hand had fallen back down to his side, the others had caught up with him.

"Captain Crawley! Good to see you in such healthy condition. And you've brought friends along!"

"Er…yes this is Sergeants Cobb and…?" He pointed at Dom and Arthur before questioning Arthur.

"…Williams!" Arthur replied.

"Williams. And finally this is nurses Smith and_" A shell exploding shook the ground, "Nurses Smith and Crawley. She's my cousin." The girls stared at Matthew in utter amazement.

"Where's Ariadne?" Anna asked Dom.

"She's back in the warehouse, keeping an eye on things."

"How do you do? We need all the nurses we can get up here. Captain Crawley, take your place alongside the Corporal here." The Major bellowed above the sound of gunfire. Matthew took his gun in his hand and knelt on the side of the trench with his head and gun sticking out over the top before the Corporal beside him spoke,

"Good to see you again Mr Crawley!" Matthew chuckled heartily. Him and the Corporal always spoke to each other like they did before the war. On hearing this voice, Sybil froze. She tried to conjure up the courage to speak out and say something, but Anna got there first.

"Mr Branson!" She came striding up to him, resting her hand on his shoulder.

"Anna! What on earth are you doing here? This is no place for a lady!"

"You're so kind Branson, but I'm hardly a lady, and I'm not afraid to admit it." She turned round and stared at Sybil. "But I'll tell you who is." Branson followed Anna's gaze before setting them on Sybil. He felt a lump form in his throat before he got up from where he was kneeling and walked over to stand in front of her. Cobb caught wind of what was happening and he dropped the gun he was about to place on his shoulder.

"Sybil. I err.." He spotted tears building up in her eyes, "Hey, don't cry!" He placed his grimy hand on her spotless dress. "I'm sorry about ruining your dress! I hope that's not what you're crying about!" It was hardly the perfect place for an emotional reunion, but he tried to lighten the mood with a slight chuckle after his last comment.

"Oh Tom!" Was all she could muster up before flinging her arms around his neck and burying her head in his sturdy shoulder.

"Hey! Do you two know each other?" Dom butted in. Branson replied with a short nod as Dom gawked at Matthew, who had now stopped shooting and joined the others.

"What are you doing? You should never build from your own memories! Once you do you start to lose track of what's reality." Dom tried to keep the tone of his voice as calm as possible, but he knew the danger Matthew was playing with all too well that by the time he finished speaking, his voice began to shake.

"Well, I'm sorry, but you said it had to be realistic!" Matthew bellowed.

"Realistic, not reality! How do these two know each other in real life?"

"He was her chauffeur and he died in the battle of the Somme." Matthew admitted; earnestly staring at his fellow comrade. Branson turned his face to Matthew before stuttering,

"I…I-I'm sorry?"

"Is this the battle of the Somme?" Dom questioned.

"Well of cause not! It's a dream isn't it?" Matthew was beginning to lose his patience. But as he blurted out his reply, all the other soldiers in that section of trench glared at Matthew.

"Quick Mr Crawley! Draw attention away from yourself! Anna shouted at the top of her voice as a round of gunfire cascaded over the top of the trench and everybody ducked.

"Well why should I do that?"

"Because you know what they said Mr Crawley! Your projections are trying to seek out the person who's drawing attention to the fact that we're dreaming, namely you!" Anna replied as she began attending to a nearby soldier's minor wound.

"But their my projections!"

"It's a civil war Mr Crawley!"

"Well what should I do then?"

"Just shut up!" Dom called over.

"Alright!" He cried sarcastically, "No need to get angry." He muttered, "And Anna, that's Matthew to you!" Anna pulled her vision away from the soldier for a split second.

"Alright Matthew! No need to get angry!" She smiled amicably at him. Meanwhile, Sybil pulled away from Branson's shoulder to give him a faint smile.

"Tell me honestly Sybil, do I die here?" She slowly nodded before she mumbled,

"But this is all just a dream! I can't ever see you again in real life!" Branson pulled her closer to his body again as the projections glared with their looks as sharp as a knife.

"Well, if this is all the time we have, we'd better make good use of it yes?" She looked into his eyes again, her heart beating wildly as he wiped a stray tear from her eye and slowly lowered his face to hers, their lips getting ever closer. Sybil closed her eye lids, felt the warmth of his breath against his face as a deafening explosion ripped through their moment. Major Watson ordered him away to take his place on the very front line. He gave her one last apologetic glance before he knelt again next to his Major.

"Matthew you have to change this now, it's too dangerous here." Arthur told him.

"I-I can't, I mean I can't change the dream." Matthew began stuttering.

"What do you mean you can't? You're in control of it aren't you?" Anna's voice began to waver.

"I'm not in control now! I can't do anything!"

"Matthew! Get us out of here now!" Anna screamed.

"I can't-I- I just can't!"

"The Huns are coming over the top!" One soldier yelled, before a handful of German soldier made it past the no man's land and started tumbling into their trenches. Few mad made it in as they were usually shot down, but the sense of terror amongst the dreamers suddenly escalated as the same dark haired, furnace eyed woman came over the top with her tatty dress and dagger. She began to stab the dreamers one by one, including Branson, before she came to Anna and Sybil.. She gave Anna the same look of loathing and hatred she'd given in the last dream, before crying out,

"FraochÚn!" and stabbing her in the stomach. Finally she came to Sybil but all the young lady could do was take one last look at her handsome Corporal before she woke up in the warehouse in a cold sweat.

The group woke up panting as if they'd just been on a five mile run. Sybil sat up quickly and softly spoke to Ariadne, who was sitting by the machine,

"Take me back."

"I'm sorry?" She replied.

"Take me back there now!" Sybil roared as she leapt up from her seat and walked over to window.

"Why do you want to go back there? You look like you've just been killed!"

"Matthew here built the dream on his own memories, and now Sybil doesn't want to leave." Dom explained.

"Why wouldn't she? What made her want to stay?" Ariadne's face looked more and more confused as Arthur came and sat down beside her.

"Her guy was killed in the Somme and he was there, he was about to get killed." Arthur whispered in her ear. She let out a silent _Oh_, before Anna began to question,

"What did she say? At the end?"

"The woman do you mean? Sorry Anna, we'd been killed by then." Matthew apologised.

"Whore." Sybil blurted out from the window. The whole group's faces turned to her in utter disbelief of what she'd just declared. "She called you a whore in Irish."

"How do you know Irish?" Anna spoke out.

"B-brans-Tom taught me." Sybil couldn't produce the br sound as her voice shattered into tears.

"Tom?" Ariadne questioned Arthur again.

"Her guy." He replied as he discreetly placed his hand around her wait.

"But why would she call you a whore in Irish?" Matthew turned towards Anna next to him. Anna tried searching her brain to answer his question, but her mind was drawn to a memory of a few years ago, when she was in London, talking to John's mother. And then it hit her like a train. She knew full when who this woman was.


	4. Totem

**Sorry for the longish wait! I had a plan for where this was going to go, but now i have an even better one! Yes, i now know how to thorougly confuse you...but not quite yet. A bit of a filler chapter now but one which may be more inportant that you first realise...enjoy!**

**Jo x**

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"Anna?" Anna jumped at the shock of her mind turning back to the conversation in the room, realising she hadn't said anything. "Anna? Are you alright?" Matthew repeated.

"Yes thank you Matthew. Perfectly alright." Anna fidgeted; she knew what they were going to ask next.

"Who is she Anna?" Arthur questioned from the other side of the circle of chairs.

"It doesn't matter." She shot up from her seat to stride over to the window to stand next to Sybil.

"Anna, please. It does matter if she's killing us." Sybil turned to her and whispered in hush tones, tears now in both the woman's eyes. Anna looked down at the floor; to her feet before gazing out the window again.

"That woman, is Mrs John Bates; Vera." Dom, Arthur and Ariadne stayed silent with the rest of the group. They knew who Bates was.

"Mr Bates, If you don't already know, is Lord Grantham's_" Anna turned round.

"Valet, yeah we know. And you love him yes?" Ariadne interrupted.

"How? I mean…you've never met him." Matthew asked.

"Whomever is in control of this dream feeding us this info, we don't exactly know why." Dom explained as Sybil turned round this time to face the rest of the group.

"How do you even know this is a dream?" She asked as she returned to her seat. The three dream experts looked at each other with a funny expression.

"We just…do." Arthur's words tumbled out of his mouth.

"You just do? What-how can you just know? You told us that we were definitely in a dream!" Anna started panicking.

"We never told you that! We are in a dream. We're pretty sure of it." Dom replied.

"Alright, well, if this is a dream, tell me about reality. Tell me about who you are in reality, about your life, your job, your family. Go on, tell me." Matthew demanded.

"We can't remember. It's all a bit…erratic. One moment we're in the warehouse, the next we're on the street." No sooner had Ariadne spoken the last word, the group found themselves out on a Parisian street, not dissimilar to the one Matthew, Sybil and Anna found themselves on at the beginning of this nightmare. "It's the erratic nature of the dream." She concluded as they began walking along the street to a café named "Café Debussy". The conversation was finally put to rest when all of a sudden, the sound of a large boom and screeching brakes echoed around the high rise boulevard. They all shot their heads round full 180˚ as people screamed for help.

"I think there's been some sort of car crash! Please we need to help!" Sybil began heading towards the accident which had happened round the corner.

"No! Sybil! It's not worth it!" Arthur called out.

"Oh of course!" She replied sarcastically. "They're all projections aren't they? Well I don't care a fig about that, I'm going to help." She began to jog towards the scene but was stopped by Matthew's outstretched arm and glaring eyes telling her not stay. She took a moment to calm down before turning around and joining the group, walking to the café.

"But if this is a dream, then how come you know it's a dream? When you dream you think it's reality until you wake up yes?" Anna argued.

"We're lucid dreaming. We know it's a dream because for some reason the person in control of the dream wants us to know that." Dom stated as the group sat down at a table and ordered their drinks as the waiter jotted down on his notepad. Sybil sat down in between the other two woman and turned to Anna before whispering,

"It feels pretty real for a dream though doesn't it?"

"It's meant to feel real! Plus we don't know what the twenty first century is meant to be like do we? This may not be realistic at all."

"Anyway, Anna." Dom caught her attention, "What are we going to do with this Vera hey? She's your gate crasher and she can't carry on. We're going to have to contain her, or trap her in some way."

"Well how do you propose to do that then?" Matthew's eyes wandered down the list of desserts.

"Limbo." Arthur blurted out as his eyes did the same.

"Limbo. That's perfect Arthur!" Dom exclaimed.

"Well, my parents always said I was the perfect little angel. Can't go too far wrong if I'm like that!" Ariadne let out a small giggle at the remark.

"What will we do?" Sybil looked rather bewildered.

"We'll build a dream and we'll draw her into that dream. We'll convince her it's reality and make her feel at ease. If you don't feel at ease then she won't and she start attacking us. When she feels comfortable, I'm afraid one of us will have to kill her and send her into limbo."

"But we'll use a sedative right? Otherwise she won't go there." Ariadne pointed out, taking a sip from her coffee that had just appeared in front of her.

"Right. Then we'll wait for the kick and ride up out of that dream, out of this dream and back into reality. Nice and easy." Dom took a sip of water, before the group found themselves back in the warehouse again.

"Where will this dream be exactly?" Matthew asked as he made his way over to the chaise lounge.

"Well, where you feel at ease, Downton Abbey." Arthur suggested.

"Oh no! You said never to build from your memories." Anna objected; walking over to the chairs.

"And we don't have to." Sybil burst out, "We can swap some rooms around I imagine, just so we don't lose track of the dream."

"Yes we should do that, swap the library and the dining room round. But we won't be able to get away with walking into the library when the dinner gong rings!" Matthew joked.

"Yeah we'll do that, but also, you should make one of these." Dom pulled out s little spinning top from his pocket. "This is what we call a totem. It helps you keep track of reality, or in our case, semi-reality. Make some small object that is weighted in some particular way, or has a certain feature to it which is unnoticeable unless you hold it. Only you will make it and only you will know about that feature. If you enter someone else's dream, pull this out and you'll know you're dreaming as the person in control won't know about this feature."

"So make it individual?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, completely individual." Confirmed Ariadne.

"But surely we it's not entirely individual," Sybil moved over to stand beside Anna, "If this is the dream then surely the person in control of it came up with the idea."

"She's right! How can it be your idea?" Anna sat down.

"Well, it's not exactly our idea." Arthur replied, "It's called inception." The three English looked at them in a state of utter confusion. "Let me explain, whoever is in control has planted an idea in our minds. An idea that this world is the real world and that these totems are our own creation."

"But they haven't succeeded have they?" Matthew quizzed.

"Exactly. Somehow we realised that this wasn't real. But if you create these totems, you'll know whether you're in reality or this semi-reality, or if you're in much deeper than that." Dom stated with an eerie tone to his voice.

"Because if you're in this dream or in reality, the totem will have that distinctiveness about it. I understand now." Anna got up to walk over to the worktop and create her totem, but the semi-reality skipped forward and in a blink of an eye, Matthew, Anna and Sybil had their totems grasped firmly in their hands.

Matthew had decided to make a hair comb, a replica of one he'd once seen in Mary's hair. The scent of the flowers attached to the comb was mesmerising, so much so that he remembered he was half tempted to get down on one knee and propose to her that very moment. The flowers looked like any you would see out in the garden, but he knew that if you touched them, you would be able to tell that they were in fact fake.

Anna had made a glass box, a miniature glass box. For some reason it reminded her of John, how he was trapped by Vera and how she was enslaved by this fear of her. She'd given it a tiny hinge, one so small that it was completely invisible to the naked eye; Anna knew where the hinge lay, and how to open the box and set both herself and John free.

Sybil held in her closed palm a small die. She remembered the time when Branson had taught her about betting and chance. The chance of her and him to be together, she thought to herself. She'd weighted the die in such a way that every time she through it, it would land on a one. As long as nobody else got hold of it then she would be fine.

"So what next then?" Anna turned round to face Dom.

"We design the dream, I'll leave that up to you guys and Miss Architect here." He glared at Ariadne when the time jumped forward again, and the whole group were resting on the deck chairs, plugged in, about to go to sleep.

"So remember guys. The library has swapped with the Dining Room, staircase leading to the upper floors and the staircase leading to downstairs." Dom confirmed.

"In other words, everything that's on the right hand side as you walk in, has swapped with everything on the left hand side as you walk in." Anna replied.

"Except the Drawing Room, the Smoking Room and the Music Room and Morning Room. They stay the same." Sybil remarked.

"Remember, we draw Vera in by placing you Anna, and Bates into the dream. We make her feel easy and then we kill her." Dom reaffirmed.

"Peacefully mind you! I know I'm not exactly one of her favourites and I know she's just a projection, but I don't want it to be a bloodbath!"

"Ok, just a short sharp stab should do the trick. Sybil," Her ears pricked up at the mention of her name, "you're in control." She silently nodded. "Are we ready everyone?" Dom asked, looking round as one by one, everybody nodded in agreement. "Then let's sleep."


	5. The Dream Is Collapsing

**Sorry for the wait! I hope this makes up for it though. In this dreamers start their plan to trap Vera in Limbo and all does not go acording to plan.**..

**Jo x**

* * *

All three awoke into the dream. Sybil opened her eyes to find herself nestled into her bed whilst the warm, summer sunshine flooded through her curtains. She untucked the bed sheets and clambered out; slowly gaining her footing on the carpet. She pulled out the die from a small pocket sewed into her nightclothes and rolled it on her bedside table. Four. She knew for certain she wasn't in reality now. As she popped the die back into her pocket with one hand, she reached for the bell chord with the other.

* * *

Anna awoke at the sound of the bell in the staff dining hall. She looked down into her bowl of soup and let out a quiet, "Oh no," as it dawned on her that her face had been half buried in cream of mushroom. She looked up again to see the puzzled faces of the staff. Mrs Hughes' expression was priceless. It was a look of amaze and sympathy, as if she was just about to tell her to go back to bed. Only Mr Bates seemed to shed a smile at all. She smiled back as Carson bellowed,

"Well off you go then."

"Yes Mr Carson." Anna sighed as she stood up and walked over to the door. He handed her a clean cloth as she passed him.

"Thank you Mr Carson." She smiled again, wiping her face down before politely handing it back to him and heading upstairs.

* * *

Matthew awoke at the jolt of the car driving over a pothole. His eyes shot open at the sound of, "Are you alright sir?"

"Yes Taylor. Thank you. I'm just a bit tired you see."

"That's understandable this time of year I guess. Sun rising early and setting late."

"Yes, I guess so." Matthew replied as Taylor pulled up outside the main house. He'd be spending the whole day with the family as it was the week-end. Something he still didn't think cousin Violet had grasped the idea of yet. As it was so early, Carson didn't or any of the footmen didn't seem to be ready for his arrival yet, so he made his way inside by himself as Lord Grantham came down the stairs to welcome him.

"Matthew! How good of you to come today."

"It's not a problem. I thought you might want some more company on your little hunt. Are the horses in good shape?" He placed his hat on the table.

"I'm afraid I don't know about that. You'll have to ask my two new grooms, Ariadne and Arthur." Matthew let out a small grin at the thought of his friends getting down and dirty with the horses.

"Come and join us for breakfast." His lordship declared as he walked towards the dining room on the left. He still couldn't get his head around this. The dining room, staircase and staff staircase on the left and the library and music room on the right. It didn't feel natural. As he followed Robert into the dining room, Sybil descended down the staircase as Anna paused on the ground floor level for a moment to give Matthew a knowing smile, before heading downstairs again.

* * *

Later in the day, Matthew headed upstairs to one of the spare rooms to get changed into his riding gear, only to be greeted by Dom.

"Mr Cobb! How nice of you to be my valet for the day."

"It's not my choice, blame your cousin Sybil for that." They both chuckled to themselves. "Anyway…errm…what do I do?"

Sybil emerged from her room in a new outfit with Anna, as they crept around upstairs, heading towards the staff staircase (destination: the stables) they met up with Matthew and Dom having the same idea. As they quietly made their way outside, they prayed to they wouldn't be spotted. Needless to say, this sort of thing wasn't common practise by an heir, his valet, and earl's daughter and her housemaid. They walked into the stables and found Ariadne and Arthur cleaning up the area.

"Sybil, why are does he get to be a valet, and we're stuck here shovelling manure?" Ariadne exclaimed before wiping her forehead with her arm.

"I thought you two might like some time working together alone!" Sybil replied as she walked towards her horse called Tom. Both Arthur and Ariadne looked at each other nervously before they helped Sybil and Matthew up onto their horses.

* * *

As Anna made her way downstairs, she spotted that the staff had gathered together to welcome a new member.

"Could we please welcome Miss Vera O'Reilly to the staff as one of the new maids. I'm sure you will do fine in making her feel at home." Mrs Hughes told them sternly. Anna stood behind her seat opposite Bates as she looked from Vera's smug expression, to his almost ill smile.

"O'Reilly?" Anna mouthed across.

"Maiden name." He mouthed back. Vera shot a killer look in Anna's direction, before going back into her dignified expression.

* * *

Once the hunt had finished, Anna, Vera and Dom, in awkward silence made their way upstairs to meet Matthew and the girls and to help them get changed out of their muddy clothes.

"You scared the poor horse with that loud bugle of yours cousin Matthew!" Mary joked as the party made their way inside.

"I did not! You scared it with the terrible state of your hair at the moment!" Mary scoffed at his reply as they handed their gear to the maids and valet. At this moment, Ariadne and Arthur were walking past after helping in the stables and they spotted the chauffeur walking in through the door. He looked familiar. They followed him in just as Vera laid eyes on him.

"Branson!" She called out as they all turned round and he stopped in his tracks.

"Yes? I'm sorry do I know you?" He replied as Sybil's face turned from to a look of horror.

"You're supposed to be dead. I killed you! This is all a dream." Vera declared.

"I'm sorry? You killed him?" Mary questioned in disbelief as Branson's face showed the same disbelief.

"Sybil I thought you had this under control! What's he doing here?" Dom asked.

"He's just a projection it doesn't matter! And so is she isn't she?"

"Yes but he's a gate crasher! He's blown our cover." Dom replied.

"The plan was to peacefully kill her and trap her in limbo and now that's failed." Arthur spoke just as a panel of glass and a few bricks came tumbling down from above.

"What's happening?" Matthew's voice quivered before Dom spoke again,

"The dream is collapsing."


	6. Reality Check

**Here it is! The last chapter in their little adventure! Sorry for the long wait...but i hope you enjoy! Bit of a warning, a lot of shooting people in this...nothing gruesome, just a lot of...shooting...and death.  
**

**Jo x**

* * *

"But…how can we be dreaming? This doesn't make any sense." Mary exclaimed as another brick fell from above.

"Mary, stay out of this. In fact, can you just leave now?" Matthew replied, impolitely trying to send her on her way.

"Oh! Well, I can see when I'm not needed."

"Will you two just shut up?" Dom shouted as a bullet shot past his turned head and into Mary's side. She dropped to the floor like a stone in a pond. Everybody's stunned expressions turned to stare at Vera; shot gun in hand and the look of sheer hatred on her face. Matthew crouched down to Mary's side as he felt her pulse in her neck.

"Dead. Stone cold." His heart sank. "But she's just a projection, so there's nothing to worry about I guess." _CRASH! _A pile of rubble came tumbling down the chimney and spilling out into the room.

"Look, Vera. You don't want to hurt us. I know you're angry with me…but just please…" Anna cautiously approached the older woman, but stopped in her tracks as Vera fired at her and almost clipped her ear.

"Run!" Ariadne screamed as shards of glass began to fall from the roof.

They headed for the stairs on their left and ran up the staff staircase. Branson grabbed hold of Sybil's hand as the group made their way to the first floor, shortly followed by the lunatic projection. Vera fired up through the centre of the winding staircase as Dom's bullets fired down. An almighty explosion echoed up the staircase as Sybil questioned,

"If the dream is collapsing and we're all going to be killed, why are we trying to dodge Vera's bullets?"

"Because maybe if we stay alive long enough the time on the dream might run out and we'll wake up." Arthur explained.

"But we need to kill Vera yes? To trap her in Limbo?" Anna added as the group pushed their way through the doors and onto the first floor.

"Yes, since we're using a sedative, if we die we go into limbo. Hang on a minute, did we use a sedative to dream? I can't remember." Said Ariadne. The group looked at each other in confusion.

"I'm not sure. That's the_" Dom was interrupted.

"Erratic nature of the dream, yes we know." Replied the young American.

"But what we if we don't kill her and we get killed?" Asked Matthew as they ran round the landing, stopping every so often to shoot and hiding behind the slowly crumbling walls.

"If we're using a sedative then we go into limbo and she doesn't. She'll just disappear as the dreamers are in limbo and can't control that dream anymore. If we're not using a sedative then_" Dom launched another few bullets at Vera.

"Then where do we go then?" Mathew grew impatient.

"Well, we'll just have to find out won't we?" Dom shouted back as Robert came hurrying out of his room full of rubble from above and into the landing.

"What on earth's name is going on?" He bellowed as a bullet went into his heart. They group paused for a moment before Sybil spoke up,

"After you your Lordship." And pushed Matthew forward to start the group running again.

By this point, almost all of the rooms on first floor had collapsed in on themselves, so the group run back down the staff staircase, and down to the staff level, where they were met with a crazed atmosphere of footmen, maids, valets, housekeeper and butler panicking over whether to escape the disintegrating house. The high tension was made worse by the ominous sound of gunfire echoing round the quarters.

"Get under the tables!" Anna burst into the dining room with the others, but it was too late for some as Vera came in right behind and shot William and Bates in the head. The

others didn't listen and ran straight for the exit into the courtyard as soon as the battle moved into the hallway. The rooms began to shake at the shockwaves of explosions and implosions happening above, as bedside lamps and other objects began to tumble and plummet to the floor.

"You flirt of a housemaid! You whore! You husband snatcher! What do you know about my John?" Vera cried as another bullet whizzed past Matthew's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Mrs Bates! I'm sure you realise you can't help who you fall in love with! Otherwise I'm sure I wouldn't have paid the slightest bit more of attention to your husband than was necessary, Lady Sybil here wouldn't have defended Branson as much when he was about to be fired, and Mr Crawley and Lady Mary would definitely have been married by now!" Anna shouted back as the group at each other as if some high level security secret had just been revealed.

"Sorry's not good enough!" Vera gave another scream as she launched a bullet that went straight into Sybil's side. Sybil's cry of agony was enough to make Branson's heart crumble, much like the crumbling house around them. He pounced to her side and tried to stop the bleeding.

"What's going to happen to her?" Branson spoke; his voice wavered as the group stopped in the hallway, blocked by Sybil's weak body lying down the middle. Nobody could run from the bullets now, so they dropped their arms with their guns to their sides.

"Like we explained, if we're using a sedative, she'll go into limbo. If we're not, then…who knows where she'll wake up. Probably back at the warehouse in Paris." Arthur stated.

"This isn't making sense." Branson stroked her face as Sybil took another look at her beloved chauffeur. She could smell all kinds of scents. Mrs Patmore's bacon rising from the kitchens, the tulips in her vase on her bedside table, the soft soapy smell of her bed linens. She could hear the birds tweeting outside the house in the trees. It left her feeling very confused. _BANG! _ Ariadne grabbed hold of Dom's gun and shot Sybil in the heart, leaving a lifeless body.

"What did you have to do that for?" Branson's leapt up from the floor; faze ablaze and almost with little puffs of smoke coming out of his ears.

"She was going to die anyway, but don't worry! She's not really dead. I just put her out of her misery."

"Well, that almost clears the hallway." Vera muttered as she fired at Branson's head; his body falling to the floor "Now it's clear!" She spoke with a joking, sarcasm in her voice.

The group began to run for the stairs to see if they could escape these maze-like corridors, but the staircase had fallen to the floor and the ceiling above them was about to cave in. The only escape was out into the courtyard, where they were greeted with the sights of seemingly unconscious or dead inhabitants or staff of Downton, with large pieces of masonry from the building lying next to them. The sight was gruelling for Matthew and Anna, but all that was forgotten when a large brick came hurtling towards the ground and knocked Matthew dead. There was no time for mourning as what was left of the group and their chaser ran out round to the front of the house; bullets firing everywhere and the sound of chaos and disaster echoing round the nearby hills. As Vera's taunting words grew ever louder and closer, Anna pulled Dom's gun out of his hands and shot Vera's foot. The woman collapsed in the shade of a tree in the gravel at the front of the fallen house. The injury wasn't enough to kill her, and Anna was thankful for that, but it was enough to stop chase. Dom carefully prised Anna's clench on the gun apart and took it into his own hand again.

"You'll live to regret the day you cam across me Miss Smith! In reality I will make you're days a living hell. I'll drag John away from you even if it kills me!" She screeched.

"Maybe. But if it does kill you, at least John will be free. Free from you and free from any woman who could cause him heartache." Anna spitted out with a sense of gut-wrenching despair. She couldn't imagine how she could survive without him in her life, but if Vera died trying to separate them, then at least he'll be free from any guilt. Anna would have to bear that herself, but it was a price worth paying for the man she loved.

_CRACK! _The sound of the tree trunk snapping came as no surprise to Dom, who at this point had slowly drawn Anna and the other's away from the shadow of the tree. It came tumbling down like a pile of bricks. A pile of bricks used to build this nightmare of a dream. They turned away as it crushed Vera underneath, leaving the group in utter shock.

"Shoot me! Shoot me now!" Anna wept the last remaining tower of the house began to rain down on them. "Shoot me NOW!" She shouted again as a bullet went through her brain. Another bullet cascaded and shot Ariadne, then Arthur, and Dom was just about to shoot himself in the head but was knocked dead by the dream well and truly collapsing.

* * *

Matthew awoke with a face full of gravel as his eyes fluttered open to see the imposing sight of Downton in front of him. He looked around he looked around him and grabbed hold of his walking stick next to him. He came to his feet and steadied himself on the drive before pulling out his totem (the hairclip) from his pocket. The flowers were fake. He was in reality. He was sure of that now. He assumed it was the morning after he'd first fallen asleep and awoken in the dream (or so they thought it was a dream, they weren't 100% sure). As he limped his way towards the house, he saw the door open and Mary emerge. She calmly walked towards him and gave him an amicable hug.

"I heard that you were quite the hero in battle. You must be ever so proud of yourself. I know papa is." She gave him a faint smile. He thought that was a bit odd. Before the "incident" Mary had been a bit sour towards him as she didn't see him as a "hero" because he hadn't of been able to save his fellow comrades. Maybe she's changed her mind? Maybe things have changed because of "the incident"? He linked his free arm with Mary's as they walked towards the house (which had no been turned into a convalescent home he'd heard).

* * *

Anna yawned her eyes open at the sound of Daisy knocking on her and Ethel's door.

"Six o'clock!" The scullery maid called out.

"Thank you Daisy!" She heard her roommate reply. Anna pulled out her tiny glass box and carefully opened the lid. She knew she was in reality. The hinge was so tiny that no one who designed this dream would've been able to notice that, therefore, she concluded that this was the real Downton. After she'd dressed she made her way to the dining room where she sat down and picked up one of the un-ironed newspapers that had been left around for them to read. _15__th__ October 1916_. The morning after she fell asleep and had that crazy adventure. She noticed John's amazed expression on his face from his letter and she asked,

"Are you alright Mr Bates?" as she slurped a spoon full of soup.

"Err…yes. It's nothing. Um…Vera…she's been declared M.I.A." He gulped.

"What's M.I.A? Daisy enquired.

"Missing In Action." John answered. "She's dead." Anna's gut instinct turned from that of concern for John, to simple guilt as the shock silenced the room. They all sat there for a minute or so in silence, before Mrs Hughes spoke up.

"Well, I hardly think that's nothing Mr Bates. I'm sorry for our loss. That's dreadful news."

"Don't worry about me." A vague smile appeared on his face. "I'm free." He smiled at Anna as the rest of the room looked confused.

* * *

Sybil stretched and yawned as her eyes slowly opened to find herself tucked up tight and snug in her bed. She couldn't quite believe that it felt like only a few seconds ago she was gazing at Branson's beautiful face, hearing what must have been the sound of the birds outside and the smell of bacon rising up the house and into her room where she now found herself. She jumped out of bed and pulled out her die. She carefully rolled the die on her cabinet. One. Her heart sank a bit as it she discovered she was back in reality. That dream was the last chance she would ever see Branson's face. The last time she would ever see him alive. She could feel her eyes welling up, so she decided to dress herself in her nurse's uniform and head downstairs for some breakfast and another hard day's work mending broken soldiers. Maybe that would take her mind of him. After she was dressed she slowly came down the stairs, trying not to become publicly teary, but she stopped when halfway down the stairs at the sight at the main doorway.

"Branson!" She came running down the last few steps, turned the corner, ran across the hallway and into his outstretched arms. "I thought you were dead! I must be dreaming, I must."

"I'm not dead and you're not dreaming! Don't worry! I'm here to take his Lordship to the bank. Are you alright milady?"

"Tom, please! You don't have to call me that." She whispered as her hands began to roam his back.

"Are you alright, Sybil?" He whispered back as he tucked a loose bit of hair behind her ear.

"I am! Now that you're here." She gazed into his eyes before reaching up and placing her lips on hers. She didn't care who might walk in on them that instant, and neither did he. All that mattered for her was that he was alive. Somehow.

* * *

**Aahh! That's really got you confused now hasn't it! Fear not my lovelies! I will explain all in the sequel...so watch this space! :D**


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